Pandora in New Zealand

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Behodar

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# 105357 3-Jul-2012 09:14

As per PC World, the Pandora streaming music service now works in NZ. I'm at work so haven't tried it on a computer, but it works on my iPhone. The app isn't yet available in NZ so I had to sign into my US iTunes account to download it. It also hasn't been updated for NZ users; it wants a 5-digit zip code but you can get around this by prefixing your NZ postcode with a 0.

Once it's set up, it seems to work well. Presumably an updated app will be available in NZ soon, making the whole process easier :)

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# 649887 3-Jul-2012 09:52

Yes, pandora.com does appear to work now without using a VPN. Using an NZ Postcode with a leading 0 also works.

We now have Spotify in NZ which may make Pandora unnecessary however I feel that the quality of sound on Pandora is better than Spotify for non subscribers.

freitasm

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# 649888 3-Jul-2012 09:53

We also have Rdio in New Zealand, probably the first one to appear around here.

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geek4me

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# 649904 3-Jul-2012 10:15

Doesn't Rdio require a subscription after 7 days? Pandora will let you listen without subscribing and without logging in. (Correct me if I'm wrong which I'm sure someone will.)

semigeek

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# 649924 3-Jul-2012 10:49

Nice, now we just need Netflix and Hulu and all will be good.

ashnizzle

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# 649926 3-Jul-2012 10:58

geek4me: Yes, pandora.com does appear to work now without using a VPN. Using an NZ Postcode with a leading 0 also works.

We now have Spotify in NZ which may make Pandora unnecessary however I feel that the quality of sound on Pandora is better than Spotify for non subscribers.

seems to be working for me now :D bring on hulu and netflix now :D

myopinion

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# 649946 3-Jul-2012 11:27

I used Pandora at home before Spotify came along. Pandora's ability to play music that you like, based on an artist, song or genre is almost spooky. Much better than Spotify is at present.

KevinL

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# 649947 3-Jul-2012 11:27

Nice. The Pandora Android app is available in the Google Play Store, for what it's worth. I had a previously registered account - some time ago it wasn't geo-blocked and you could access Pandora by signing up with a US zip code, so it's nice to see it working again.

khull

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# 650014 3-Jul-2012 13:14

finally - although i've been enjoying it for years on VPN

Kyanar

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# 650157 3-Jul-2012 17:36

geek4me: Doesn't Rdio require a subscription after 7 days? Pandora will let you listen without subscribing and without logging in. (Correct me if I'm wrong which I'm sure someone will.)

No, you're right :) Pandora does have the thing though that unless you subscribe, it will not let you skip more than about 4 or 5 songs before it tells you you can't skip any more without subscribing, and it does have full screen audio ads every ~10 songs. But the subscription is MUCH cheaper ($4 US/month) so quite worth it.

Kyanar

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# 650354 4-Jul-2012 00:40

Kyanar:
geek4me: Doesn't Rdio require a subscription after 7 days? Pandora will let you listen without subscribing and without logging in. (Correct me if I'm wrong which I'm sure someone will.)

No, you're right :) Pandora does have the thing though that unless you subscribe, it will not let you skip more than about 4 or 5 songs before it tells you you can't skip any more without subscribing, and it does have full screen audio ads every ~10 songs. But the subscription is MUCH cheaper ($4 US/month) so quite worth it.

Ooops, I have to eat my words - I do have to correct you. You must log in to access Pandora, so you need to register first. The subscription is optional though - it gives you no ads, much longer "idle timeouts", the ability to skip as many songs as you want, the Desktop app (AIR based) the ability to re-skin the website, and 192kbps audio.

Kyanar

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# 650360 4-Jul-2012 00:48

ashnizzle:
geek4me: Yes, pandora.com does appear to work now without using a VPN. Using an NZ Postcode with a leading 0 also works.

We now have Spotify in NZ which may make Pandora unnecessary however I feel that the quality of sound on Pandora is better than Spotify for non subscribers.

seems to be working for me now :D bring on hulu and netflix now :D

Netflix could be closer than you think - their latest innovation seems to be a content delivery network where they offer to stick Netflix endpoints inside ISP networks ... zero rated Netflix on-demand anyone? Granted they still need to actually officially set up and get rights and stuff first, but that sort of thing seems to have started tumbling down of late (Rdio, Spotify, Pandora... one can only imagine video providers are next) and all it would likely take is a large ISP or two to express some interest... anyone at Orcon, Telecom, Slingshot and Vodafone listening? (Not you Maxnet, they probably don't like you right now).

Behodar

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# 650391 4-Jul-2012 07:16

Kyanar: Netflix could be closer than you think

A couple of weeks ago I saw a claim that Netflix was in discussion with one of the NZ networks.

timmmay

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# 650420 4-Jul-2012 08:17

Nice to know I don't have to start up the VPN to use Pandora. It's a great service, I subscribe to the $4/month upgrade to a higher quality of sound - it's worth it IMHO.

geek4me

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# 650554 4-Jul-2012 11:44

Kyanar: Ooops, I have to eat my words - I do have to correct you. You must log in to access Pandora, so you need to register first. The subscription is optional though - it gives you no ads, much longer "idle timeouts", the ability to skip as many songs as you want, the Desktop app (AIR based) the ability to re-skin the website, and 192kbps audio.

We could be both right in one way. If you simply search for an artist or genre without logging on it will play about 10 songs. If after about 5 songs you click on anything it stops playing and asks you to Register or log on. If however you don't click anything (minimise the Pandora browser window) it will play about 10 songs before it pops up a Window asking if you are still listening as they don't want to play into an empty room. At that point you must Register and login to continue or simply close the browser and start again to get another 10 songs.

Edit: Oops I forgot to mention that to get Pandora to play another 10 songs you have to remove all the cookies from Pandora.com saved on your computer. Not doing so will bring the Register screen up instead. Delete the cookies and start again and you will get another 10 songs without needing to register or log on. However, now that New Zealanders can listen to Pandora Registering and logging on is probably the best option.

Regs

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# 650747 4-Jul-2012 16:33

a mail to the nz network operators mailing list from an @pandora.com email address today is probably good news in line with this:

We have need to find a good carrier neutral data centre in NZ within the next couple of months. Looking for any opinions/suggestions on who to contact, or who to stay away from. One to two racks, 10 - 20 Mbit/s committed rate (possibly more).

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